Early Obama booster taking in inauguration

At the 2004 Democratic National Convention, San Diego attorney David Casey was sitting behind the speaker's podium when Barack Obama gave a riveting keynote speech that would thrust the young Illinois politician into the national spotlight.

Casey, a longtime Democratic supporter, met Obama after the speech.

“I immediately invited him to come out to San Diego and hosted a lunch at Rainwater's for his 2004 U.S. Senate campaign,” Casey said.

After that lunch, David and Lisa Casey's daughter, Shannon, then 14, was so impressed that she was sure Obama would be president.

The Caseys have taken Shannon and her brother, David, with them to Washington, D.C., for this week's inaugural activities.

“It's a piece of history. They'll remember it for the rest of their lives,” said the elder David Casey.

He gave $50,000 for the inauguration, allowing him entry to numerous inaugural events.

Casey, past head of a trial lawyers group now called the American Association for Justice, is among at least 55 San Diego County residents whose names appear on the inaugural committee's online list of donors of $200 or more. A full accounting won't come until after the event.

Six others with San Diego ties gave the $50,000 maximum: Shelia Davis, widow of former Hotel del Coronado owner M. Larry Lawrence; Ivan Gayler, who helped develop Del Mar Plaza; Marcy Krinsk, wife of local attorney Jeffrey Krinsk; Michelle Lerach, a lawyer married to former attorney William Lerach, who is in prison for criminal conspiracy in class-action lawsuits; Margo O'Brien of Good Energies, a clean-energy venture capital company; and Kalpana Rhodes, a self-employed investor from La Jolla.

In the $25,000 group: Nicholas Binkley, a partner in the private equity firm of Forrest, Binkley & Brown; Irwin Jacobs, a founder of Qualcomm; Ted Waitt, a founder of Gateway computers; and Patricia Zigarmi, an executive with the Ken Blanchard management training companies.

San Diego's own Obama

Today's inauguration will be keenly watched by one San Diego resident whose name has gained new cachet.

Miguel Obama, 52, immigrated to San Diego from the tiny central African nation of Equatorial Guinea nearly three years ago. Obama is quick to point out that he hails from Africa's west coast, unlike Barack Obama's father, who was from Kenya on the east coast.

Miguel Obama disavows any family ties to the new president. Nevertheless, when he meets people they often ask to see his identification to prove his name is Obama.

He works in the maintenance department of Barona Casino, but he has today off. While he wishes he were in Washington, D.C., he'll settle for watching the inauguration on TV in his Southcrest home, near National City.

Winter, a founder and former executive director of the San Diego Science Alliance, told her daughter she thought Michelle Obama's tan and black outfit at Sunday's Lincoln Memorial event was striking. She wondered why the media, seemingly obsessed with Michelle Obama's clothing, had not made it an issue.

Melissa confided that they purposely didn't announce the designer's name until late Sunday night so that her clothing wouldn't dominate the news.

The designer was Narciso Rodriguez, who created the much-critiqued red and black dress Michelle Obama wore on election night.